NCS' Lunar MPEG FAQ

Lunar Silver Star Story is the latest Lunar adventure from Game Arts. SSS has been available in a standard edition for close to 6 months now in Japan. The recent release of the MPEG edition marks the game's present day market viability and the confidence that Game Arts has in the title. Think of this new version as a sort of Director's Cut.

MPEG is a form of video compression. It is more prevalent in Asia than it is in North America which is why it may sound unfamiliar. On the Saturn, MPEG is a standard that is supported with an optional video-CD card which allows animation to be shown in full screen. If you have played Gun Griffon, you may notice that the game's animation and full motion video sequences move a lot smoother with the card present. Without the video card, a black border surrounds the animation to reduce the image size so that a non-videocd equipped Saturn can still play some of the video. This cropping of animation is also the case in the original version of Lunar SSS. Since the original game was not encoded to support MPEG, the new release takes advantage of MPEG's smoother, faster, cleaner video to showcase the game's stunning animation sequences and finally does them justice. The difference in the animation between the regular edition and MPEG edition of SSS is stark.

American Saturns will not recognize the video-card that JVC manufactures. Inserting a video card into an American Saturn will result in no detection or support of the device. You can however install a toggle switch on your Saturn so that you can switch between Japanese and American modes of operation. In order to utilize the video-cd card, you would need to toggle the Saturn over to Japanese mode. NCS can help you install this toggle switch if you are solder-work challenged. A Saturn cartridge convertor will also work to run both Japanese and American modes. Thanks to Jim Ocampo and Tim Chiang for being the first two people to notify us of this fact.

There is a neat 10-count pack of Lunar trading cards. They're glossy, sharp looking and extremely cool. Each pack is bound in a mini paper envelope to preserve their sharp edges during shipping.

Sure, why not. Here's another one of Jessica enjoying the surf. A final trading card featuring Jessica places her in bed. You can check out a couple of the other trading card faces by referring to the short review that we posted for Lunar Silver Star Story when it first arrived a few weeks ago.

There is a Lunar Side Story coming for the Saturn. A couple of pictures are posted below for your reference. Please note however that this game was announced a year ago with little or no updates to the present. NCS does not expect this gaiden until late '97.

.Since this is the NCS Lunar Silver Star Story MPEG Faq and since WD has proposed that their last Saturn game will be the USA version of SSS, I thought it would be prudent to bring up. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Well, Sega and Working Designs is one matter. They should work out any perceived slights or "wrongdoing" with one another. Working Designs and it's legions of Sega fans is another matter completely. If the company feels that the only way to 'get back' at Sega is by turning it's back on the thousands of Sega fans that have supported the company through the years then they are really retaliating against the fan base. It's an action that is simply wrong. It is also a very unprofessional tactic that we don't agree with but if that is their decision, then everyone will have to adopt a wait and see attitude to see how things pan out. NCS feels that Sega of America has made many missteps in the past couple of months in the USA market but WD's decision to abandon the Saturn console is harsh and may hurt them in the long run.

.Thanks for the info. I may have to order the Japanese Lunar SSS instead of waiting for the American version due to my retailiation against WD's retailiation against Sega which retaliates right back at me, Joe the consumer. Its a vicious circle, you see.

Ah. So thats what it is. Thank you and we hope that cooler heads will prevail in the current situation between Sega and Working Designs. Both companies have benefited from each other in the past and the partnership should move forward in the future, not backwards. Time should heal the present enmity.

	The National Console Support Lunar Silver Star Story MPEG FAQ